Don't Go
by leiasky
Summary: After Kaylee puts Mal in his place, she runs into someone she never thought she’d see again.


Title: Don't Go

Rating: PG

Synopsis: After Kaylee puts Mal in his place, she runs into someone she never thought she'd see again.

Author's Notes: takes place during the movie. After Kaylee storms out of the Maidenhead bar.

Disclaimer: This story is not meant to infringe on the copyright of any person or company related to the trademarked characters and situations depicted in the Serenity movie or Firefly series. I make no money from this. Only done for fun – and a desperate craving to have more stories told about this wonderful 'verse Joss Whedon created.

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**Don't Go **

Simon watched Kaylee walk away with a mixture of incredible loss and relief. He couldn't be what she wanted. He couldn't give her everything she deserved. He needed to keep River safe. She was his one and only priority. She had to be. But Kaylee didn't understand, and now, they were out of time – she was gone and he was left staring after her as she walked away, wondering how his life could have come to this.

He did want to stay, but it was too late, he'd burned bridges in his anger and now needed to lie in the bed that he'd made for himself. Plus, as River had so aptly said, it wasn't safe for them anymore – any of them. He couldn't put the crew of Serenity in more danger – Kaylee in danger. And he needed get out from beneath the suddenly stifling hand of the Captain. He knew River had said something, but so consumed with regret for might-have-been's, he'd missed it.

"Come on, River, let's go." Simon rested his hand at the small of her back and turned her attention away from where Kaylee had just disappeared. They needed to find another transport, and quickly. Beaumonde was bustling with people, and it would make it easier for them to disappear. But, there was still that fear that they'd be caught lurking at the edge of his mind.

River could feel his frustration and his heartache as if it were her own. It was, truth be told. She loved Serenity and its crew – as much, if not more, than her brother tried to deny the love he felt for its bubbly mechanic. But it was time to move on – to stand on their own. She wanted to believe it, believe her brother's insistence that it was true. She knew it would be hard, but their leaving would ensure the crew was not harmed because of them.

River stopped suddenly and Simon glanced over at her with concern.

"Mei mei?"

"You don't want to go," she said, giving him a pointed look.

Simon sighed. He couldn't go over this again, not now. Not when the hurt in Kaylee's eyes was so fresh in his mind – and his heart. "We have to go, River."

Her eyes caught sight of a familiar form moving through the crowd away from them and River turned Simon toward that form. "We can't leave yet. Go talk to her."

Simon's gaze followed River's and his heart leapt into his throat. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure he had the resolve to walk away from Kaylee a second time. It had taken everything he had not to pull her into his arms and kiss her when they'd parted the first time. He did want to see her again, talk to her, just bask in her warmth one more time before the cold emptiness of his life surrounded him again.

"Upset. Talk to her." River gave him a lopsided smile and pushed him in the direction she knew his feet wouldn't travel without encouragement.

"I don't have the right to –"

"She needs you." River insisted, a frown crossing her face as she stared at her boob of a brother.

_I need her_, Simon thought and River's eyes flashed for a moment making him think she'd heard him. No doubt, she probably did. She was a reader, after all. And that very thought made him feel all the more guilty for putting something unattainable and out of his reach before his broken and damaged sister.

"Doesn't want us to go." River said, echoing his thoughts. Cocking her head, a small smile flitted across her lips. "Won't have to use batteries forever."

Simon's brow furrowed and he decided to dismiss her nonsensical comment. Instead, he nodded almost imperceptibly and turned his full attention on River for a moment, his eyes boring into her. "Stay here?"

River crossed her heart and gave him an odd smile. "Won't move. Promise."

With one final push, Simon made his way toward where Kaylee had stopped to look at some machine, or part – Simon couldn't really tell. He was only grateful that something had caught her attention so that he could catch up with her.

Simon watched her for a moment, then swallowed thickly and reached out a hesitant hand to touch her shoulder. But just as he made that motion, she turned around, took a step forward – and slammed right into his chest.

Kaylee's eyes widened as she glanced at the man's hands when they came down to her shoulders to steady her. "Simon!"

His hands slid down her arms, and he felt her startled smile wash over him like the gentlest of waves. He would miss this, so very much. He would miss _her_. But he couldn't turn his back on River. He'd risked everything to get her back and he wouldn't lose or abandon her now. He had to keep her safe. And he had to make sure no one else was put in danger because of them – including this beautiful girl standing in his arms.

Kaylee's eyes searched his before she allowed a small smile to spread across her face. "What're ya doin here?"

Simon shook his head to clear it and offered her a hesitant grin. "Oh, River saw you and – " Kaylee's smile fell and with it, his heart. "Well, I – wanted to – we didn't part well and –" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Kaylee." Of all the things he'd imagined telling her, especially now, those words weren't his first choice.

The lovesick mechanic pursed her lips, but her eyes, the window into her sweet, loving soul, were clear and hopeful. He knew she wanted so desperately for him to stay. And it was tearing at her heart to let him go.

"I didn't want to leave things like this, but River –"

"Why ya gotta go, Simon?" Kaylee interrupted, anxious now that he had given her a chance, come to her to talk when they'd said barely five words to each other the entire trip to Beaumonde. She needed to know why he was so adamant to get away. "You an River been safe with us for goin' on 8 months now. Why's that gotta change?" The desperation in her voice was evident even though he could tell she tried to mask it.

"We just don't fit, we never did." Kaylee's face fell and Simon hurried to cover the mistake he knew he'd made the moment the words had left his lips. He never could say the right thing around her. And now, if these were the last words he ever said to her, he didn't want them to be something that added to the hurt and pain that were already etched across her pretty face. "It's too dangerous." He reached up and gently touched her cheek. "We're too dangerous."

"Serenity's always gettin' into scrapes. Livin' in the Black's a dangerous place."

Simon smiled slightly, knowing she was trying to give him reasons to stay. And why he felt he needed to give her excuses to _leave_ made him question his own sanity instead of River's.

"I know, I just –"

Commotion behind them drew their attention and Simon immediately looked back to where he'd left River. He inhaled sharply, drawing Kaylee's eyes away from the sounds behind them and back toward Simon.

"Simon what is –"

"I'm sorry," he dismissed her instantly, concern for his sister overruling any sense of etiquette. "I've got to find River." Despite his desire to get to his sister, he couldn't leave things like this. He turned back and quickly kissed her cheek, his eyes holding hers for a split second as the whispered plea left his lips. "Please understand." His heart pounded wildly as he turned away and hurried into the bar not too far away, hoping that River had not gotten into any trouble.

Kaylee called to him but he disappeared into the bar and she stood there, stunned for a few moments as her skin tingled from the touch of his lips, before she decided to follow him. She wasn't going to let him go now. Not without one hell of a fight.

When she heard him yell a string of words in an unknown language, she skidded to a halt a good distance behind him, her eyes wide as she stared at his tense back. He glanced off to the side, toward someone Kaylee could not see but it was easy for her to figure out that something was wrong, something had gone terribly wrong.

END


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